Updated January 14 2021, at 3:21 p.m.
The Ohio Supreme Court has struck down the state's proposed new Congressional map. The court rejected the map of the state’s 15 congressional districts as gerrymandered, sending the blueprint back for another try. The court is giving lawmakers 30 days to fix the plan.
The court's majority said the map of U.S. House districts was drawn strategically to advantage Republicans. Ohio voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2018 that set up a new system to avoid gerrymandering. Voting rights and Democratic groups challenged the map as “unduly” favoring one party, a constitutional violation.
Republicans had defended the map as “highly competitive.”
DECISION: The Supreme Court invalidated the Ohio General Assembly bill that reapportioned Ohio’s 15 U.S. House districts, because the resulting congressional-district map violated the partisan gerrymandering prohibitions contained in the Ohio Constitution. https://t.co/ex3mwiqfcn pic.twitter.com/v0U0yhDPKn
— Ohio Supreme Court (@OHSupremeCourt) January 14, 2022
The 4-3 decision returns the process to the powerful Ohio Redistricting Commission, which was already reconstituting to redraw legislative maps rejected earlier this week. The court is giving the General Assembly specific instructions on what to fix, including a split in Hamilton and Cuyahoga County.
Ohio League of Women Voters President Jen Miller said it’s a victory for voters.
"I commend the high court for being very clear on what their expectations are and how they are going to measure whether the map created is fair or not. That’s real teeth that we need," said Miller.
ACLU of Ohio Freda Levenson also praises the ruling saying it "proclaims that ‘gerrymandering is the antithetical perversion of representative democracy,’ and enforces the mandate put forward by Ohio voters in 2018 who demanded an end to this abuse of power.”
An emailed statement from Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters reads, “Once again, the Ohio Supreme Court did what the legislature refused to do – listened to the will of Ohio voters. Any map that further rigs our state in favor of one party over another is unacceptable and we’ll be watching closely to make sure any new maps reflect the fair representation that Ohioans overwhelmingly called for.”
This is a developing story and more details will be added as they become available.
